0524 - Story of the Maggid Davening Long and a Trip to Leibtzig

00:00 One of the main things that the Rebbe would speak about was the union of "" based on the Mishneh, "" the main thing is the ma'ase to do. And he would say many times, the Loshen, Tapora d'Placha, which in Russian would indicate the concept of amaisa hu ha'iker, that everything has to come down the ma'ase. It's not enough if it's in theory, it has to come down the ma'ase. So I want to mention there's a story that the Rebbe told about the Mazritcher Maggid in many fabrengins. And as far as I know, seven times the Rebbe told this story, but some of the times I was there. So I would want to repeat that story because that brings out, the Rebbe brought out with this story the nekuda of amaisa hu ha'iker. And the Rebbe told this story from what I remember is in Tov Shin Chof Dalet, Aachen shel Pesach, Tov Shin Chof Vav, Yem Simchas Torah, Tov Shin Lamed Dalet, Leil Simchas Torah before Akofes, Tov Shin Mem Alef, the first Habrengin Shabbos Breishis, Tov Shin Mem Alef, Yud Gimmel Nisan, Tov Shin Mem Beis. But I know that the Rebbe spoke about it before times when I wasn't there. Once was Tov Shin Yud Zayin, Shabbos Parshas Re'eh, and other time is Tov Shin Chof, Purim Tov Shin Chof. And I'm going to repeat the story the way the Rebbe said it, Tov Shin Chof Dalet. Basically, he said the same story in all the times, it's more or less the same

01:28 way, but sometimes a few details, small kleiner keiten were not exactly the same. So I'll repeat it the way he said it in Tov Shin Chof Dalet. It's a story about the Maggid, that the Maggid had a chaver that was his chaver before he became a Talmud of the Baal Shem Tov. And the Maggid then already was a big gon and a big mekubal, so you could imagine his chaver who he was. And so he learned with his chaver Nigle and Kabbalah, and they would daven long. So his chaver once came to him, happened to be a mezarich, and he came to the Maggid, and he asked him, "Why do I see that you daven so long, longer than when we used to be chaverim, the way you used to daven, even though I'm sure you daven with Kavanas HaArizal, et cetera, et cetera. But we also davened with Kavanas HaArizal, and I still daven with Kavanas HaArizal." And the Rebbe said since it was a chaver of the Maggid, obviously this was beemes, it wasn't just a made-up thing. So he said, "I also daven with Kavanas HaArizal, but it doesn't take that long. What takes you so long?" The Maggid did not answer him on that question, continued with the conversation. He just asked him, "What do you do? What do you live on? How do you make a living?" So he told him that most of the year he sits and learns Torah, and the nyonom of panose is all through his

02:35 wife, the Keres Habais. Except a few weeks a year when it comes the time of the yered in Leipzig, then his wife prepares everything that he needs, but he goes, travels to Leipzig, to the yered, and there he buys the scheire, the merchandise. He comes home, gives it to his wife, and he continues learning, and she takes care of doing the business in the store. So the Maggid asked him, "Why do you have to spend so much time traveling there and then coming back? It takes you a few weeks. Why can't you... And then you can't really learn." Even though for sure the Rebbe said that he used to learn during the trips also, but obviously it's not the same as he would stay home. What you could have done is stay home, but sit down and be misbonen in all the details that have to do with your traveling to yered. Be misbonen that you're traveling in the train, and be misbonen that you're making this stop and then another stop, and then you're coming to the yered, and then you're dealing with the things to buy this merchandise, and then the whole trip back. And you think every detail of what's going to happen when you go to the yered. And it'll take you whatever amount of hours it'll take you to go through all this, but it won't take you weeks. It'll just take you a few hours. So why do you spend weeks to go there? So he said to him,

03:47 said to the Maggid, "You look like a batlan, because bedavder ischeire, we need the merchandise. And if I don't travel, actually, I won't have the merchandise." So the Maggid said, "Oh, that's my answer to your question. You could daven with Kavanas HaArizal, but you don't have the scheire. You don't have... You think of different madrigas, you don't have the merchandise. And in order to have the merchandise, it takes you much longer." And this is the way he was explaining that when he davens and he goes through all these kavanas, he's actually there, and he takes the merchandise from there. And with this, the Rebbe brought out that the main thing is you have to have the merchandise. You have to have the ma'ase b'peal. You can have all kinds of kavanas, but you're not there, you don't have it. Now, the Rebbe, some of the times when he told this story, said that he heard this from the... The Friedike Rebbe told this story. Now, what we do know is that the Friedike Rebbe in Tov Reish Tzadik, Shabbos Parshas Yisrei, the Friedike Rebbe spoke about this story, because in the sichas of Tov Reish Tzadik, all it says is that in the sunda of Shabbos, Friday night, Parshas Yisrei, in that sunda, the Rebbe spoke, the Friedike Rebbe spoke about the story with the Maggid, with the Kavanas Hatfilot, that medav hom descheire, that you have to be there. In order to get the merchandise, you have to be there. But it doesn't say

05:03 what he said. Now, in the Sefer of Sefer HaSichas Tov Reish Tzadik that Merkess gave out, they have a ha'ara there, and they tell the similar story, but a little bit different the way it's printed in Ginza and His Torres. Not with the chaver of the Maggid, but somebody who came to the Maggid, et cetera, et cetera. Now, we don't know exactly how the Friedike Rebbe told the story, because the ha'ara, they just bring what they say, they print it in Ginza and His Torres. It doesn't say how the Friedike Rebbe told the story. So from the Rebbe, since he told this story in the way of a chaver and all the details, all the times the same way, obviously the Friedike Rebbe heard from... The Rebbe heard from the Friedike Rebbe the story in the way he told the story. And with this, he brought out this nekuda, that hama'ase hu ha'iker, that we have to have the merchandise, we have to have the ma'ase.